Celiac Twice as Common in the Elderly

To anyone who says they are too old to have Celiac Disease, a recent study shows that is not the case. In fact, according to a recent report over at Celiac.com, it looks like Celiac Disease is twice as common in the elderly (2.5 times to be exact) than in the younger population!

It appears the study was inspired by the lack of research which has been done on the elderly to date.   Here is a small excerpt from their post:

This study shows that celiac disease is far more prevalent in elderly people than in the general population.  To better detect and treat celiac disease in elderly populations, the doctors are encouraging the use of active case finding using blood tests, since undetected celiac disease can lead to serious complications and even early death.

I find this interesting, but it makes sense. It generally takes a traumatic event before Celiac Disease symptoms begin, so many young people may not have it yet, while the elderly have probably had at least 1 traumatic event throughout their lives.